Both Roger Sherman of Connecticut and George Clinton of New York were delegates to Continental Congress and played important roles in the Revolution and adoption of the U.S. Constitution.
Sherman helped draft the Declaration of Independence while Clinton served as a militia brigadier general. Sherman was the architect of the "Great Compromise" at the Constitutional Convention to form a bicameral federal legislature after equal representation and population-based plans were proposed. Clinton opposed the Constitution before a Bill of Rights was adopted, and he may have penned several anti-Federalist essays at this time, but he did serve as president of the state ratification convention. Academia also shaped both men’s careers: Sherman as a professor of religion at Yale and Clinton as chancellor of Columbia College. Upon the formation of the federal government, both men served in the capital: Sherman as a congressman and senator, and Clinton as vice president in two administrations.
Roger Sherman
• State judge
• Delegate to Continental Congress
• Member of committee that drafted Declaration of Independence
• Yale professor
• Mayor of New Haven, Connecticut
• Delegate to Constitutional Convention
• Proposed "Great Compromise"
• Congressman
• U.S. senator
• Only person to sign Declaration of Independence, Articles of Association, Articles of Confederation and U.S. Constitution
George Clinton
• French and Indian War veteran
• State politician
• Delegate to Continental Congress
• Militia brigadier general
• Chancellor of Columbia College
• President of New York ratification convention
• Governor of New York
• Vice President (Jefferson Administration and Madison Administration)
FORGOTTEN FOUNDING FATHERS TOURNAMENT BRACKET
Washington Bracket
1. George Mason 68%
- Caesar Rodney 32%
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4. John Witherspoon 64%
- Casimir Pulaski 36%
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- Daniel Morgan 38%
6. Frederick Muhlenberg 62%
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2. William Penn 80%
- William Blount 20%
Jefferson Bracket
1. Nathanael Greene 60%
- Robert R. Livingston 40%
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- William Paterson 42%
5. Edmund Randolph 58%
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3. John Carroll 67%
- Henry Muhlenberg 33%
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2. Richard Henry Lee 70%
- John Trumbull 30%
Madison Bracket
1. Roger Williams 77%
- David Rittenhouse 23%
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4. Isaac Shelby 52%
- Joseph Warren 48%
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3. Henry Knox 50%
- George Wythe 50%
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- Roger Sherman
- George Clinton
Franklin Bracket
- John Jay
- Pierre Charles L’Enfant
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- James Otis
- John Dickinson
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- John Paul Jones
- Abraham Baldwin
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- Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben
- Samuel Nicholas
FFFs and match-ups are determined by my interpretation of who I believe were the 32 greatest FFFs. Personal politics, favoritism and reader response was NOT a factor in selection or seeding. As for the tournament itself: each match-up will be conducted every 24 hours with a synopsis written by yours truly and readers can determine using the poll function who the winner should be for that match-up; there is no #1 overall seed; FFFs retain their seeds throughout; the winner of the Washington bracket will face the winner of the Jefferson bracket, and the winner of the Madison bracket will face the winner of the Franklin bracket; after having the first tie, I've decided the higher seed will win ties. I am not voting nor will I pick sides in discussion. I wish I could somehow do a more rigid time duration period for each round but there’s no guarantee I’ll be on a computer or awake at that time so I’m gonna say polling lasts until I post the next match-up, or roughly 24 hours later. Readers may choose whichever FFF contestant they wish, but the point of the tournament is to select the greatest Forgotten Founding Father — the most influential, most important, most impactful, who contributed the most to the Revolution and/or seeds of American liberty. Have fun!